Blacksmithing Is Child’s Play for a Dark Mage - Chapter 54

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 54
A merchant entered the reception room.
He appeared to be in his early forties.
His well-groomed beard and quality clothing made a striking impression, and his sharp eyes carried the calculating air peculiar to merchants.
“I am Tennan, proprietor of the White Linen Trading Company from Harundel. It is an honor to meet you, Baron.”
Tennan bowed respectfully.
Trading Company.
In this world, the merchant class was divided into three broad tiers.
The lowest were independent merchants working alone—those who loaded their wares onto a single cart and wandered from town to town.
Or they might operate a small shop.
General stores fell into that category.
Working alone was naturally dangerous, and the income unstable. Those with shops enjoyed somewhat better stability, at least.
Above that tier was the Trading Company.
Centered on a Trading Company proprietor, these organizations employed anywhere from a handful to roughly ten merchants and conducted trade in an organized fashion.
Most Trading Companies maintained a headquarters building and typically operated two or three branch locations.
Their employed merchants would drive carts laden with goods from place to place, conducting business and generating profit.
Naturally, hiring mercenaries for each journey was essential.
And at the very top sat the Trading House—organizations so vast they maintained their own private mercenary units.
Some even had branches in multiple cities.
For a Trading Company of modest size, hiring mercenaries through the Mercenary Guild for each trade route was standard practice, though it came at no small cost.
Mercenaries from well-established Guilds commanded premium wages.
Because hiring cheap mercenaries based on combat prowess alone risked their turning brigand, merchants had little choice but to pay more for trustworthy Guild-affiliated fighters.
From the way he’d introduced himself as the White Linen Trading Company, one could deduce this was a small to mid-sized operation.
“All right. What brings you?”
Tay asked.
“I came after hearing rumors about a ring in use throughout your territory, Baron.”
“A ring, you say.”
“Yes. I heard there exists a ring that allows ordinary people—not Black Mages—to control Skeleton Soldiers. And that you’ve been lending them to your farmers.”
Tennan’s eyes gleamed.
“To be frank, when I first heard of it, I found it hard to believe. Undead Control items are expensive, after all. And Skeleton Soldiers have their own cost, do they not? So I came to this territory myself to verify it—I saw farmers wearing the rings and commanding Skeleton Soldiers to plow their fields.”
“And?”
“This is… a revolution.”
Tennan spoke with conviction.
“The mere fact that ordinary people—not Black Mages—can control Skeleton Soldiers with such ease makes this a revolutionary item. Its value as a labor force goes without saying, but surely it has combat applications too. If merchants could travel with Skeleton Soldiers instead of hired guards, that would be an enormous advantage.”
Combat use.
Tay tilted his head.
“But aren’t Skeleton Soldiers weak? You’d use them for that?”
“Pardon?”
“Skeleton Soldiers are light. They weigh only about twenty kilograms at base, so they lose in close combat. Sure, they’re strong enough, but they struggle to make an impact in a real fight. And if the user isn’t a Black Mage, they can’t repair a broken Skeleton Soldier, can they?”
Tennan wore a momentarily flustered expression. The man was downplaying his own product?
“But… I understand your Skeleton Soldiers are quite formidable. In your Territorial Dispute with Baron Philkaon—”
“That’s because we reinforced them.”
Tay waved his hand dismissively.
“We added extra bone to increase their weight and bulk, then fitted them in heavy armor—that’s what makes them strong. Naturally, with such additional reinforcement, the cost rises. And the rings and Skeleton Soldiers are sold separately. Just because someone buys a ring doesn’t mean they get a Skeleton Soldier included. Understood?”
“I understand that point.”
Tennan nodded. But he didn’t retreat.
“Even so, I remain interested. Even ordinary Skeleton Soldiers—they never tire, require no food, can stand guard day and night. That value alone is substantial. Weak though they may be, they could handle brigands or low-tier monsters, could they not? If you’d sell us both the rings and Skeleton Soldiers together, or if you’d also sell those reinforced Skeleton Soldiers, I would very much like to purchase them.”
“Hmm.”
Tay stroked his chin.
Truthfully, he’d never considered external sales.
The rings were made purely to increase agricultural efficiency within the territory.
But listening to this merchant’s pitch, there was room for thought. Come to think of it, this was indeed a profitable product.
“I haven’t given it thought before, so I’ll need time. Come again tomorrow.”
“Yes, Baron. Thank you.”
Tennan bowed respectfully and left the reception room.
Once the merchant departed and the door closed, Tay called for Rant.
“Rant.”
“Yes, Master.”
“The beefy Skeleton Soldiers… that’s too crude a name. Let’s establish an official designation. How about Medium Skeleton Soldier? I mean the ones we reinforced by adding extra bone to increase their size.”
“Medium Skeleton Soldier. That’s a good name.”
“Anyway. How much do you think we should charge for a Medium Skeleton Soldier?”
Rant fell silent for a moment, then opened his mouth.
“Since any other Black Mage can create Skeleton Soldiers just as easily, a monopoly isn’t possible, is it? If we calculate backward from labor costs and sell based on that…….”
Rant’s eyes moved rapidly. He was performing calculations in his head.
“How would 300 Goldmanta Coins per Medium Skeleton Soldier sound to you, sir?”
“300 coins, then.”
Tay did the math in his head.
The average price of one able-bodied male slave was around 200 coins.
But using male slaves as combat troops came with numerous practical problems.
You had to train them, feed them, and there was always the risk of unrest.
Medium Skeleton Soldiers, by contrast, required no training, no feeding, and would never rebel.
They worked or stood guard twenty-four hours without rest, and obeyed orders absolutely.
A hundred coins more expensive than a slave, but when you factored in zero maintenance costs, they were actually the cheaper option.
So if he sold them at 300 coins, what would the profit margin be?
After deducting the Black Mage’s wages and the cost of bones as raw materials for creating Skeleton Soldiers.
The net profit per Medium Skeleton Soldier would be at least around 200 Goldmanta Coins.
200 coins in pure profit.
Wasn’t that an absolutely lucrative business?
Selling one Skeleton Soldier nets 200 million won in Korean money? Is this insane?
“We also need to set the price for the Control Rings.”
Rant added.
“The Control Ring……around 500 coins seems reasonable.”
The manufacturing cost was actually only a few silver coins.
Yet they were charging 500 coins for it!
This was also a mad markup.
The more critical issue was that these rings. Only Tay could make them.
It was a job ability of the Crazy Craftsman.
Even so, it was cheaper than typical Undead Control items.
For example.
Undead Control items that only Black Mages could use—the kind that let you command five Skeleton Soldiers—went for around 100 Goldmanta Coins.
The problem with those items was that only ‘Black Mages’ could use them.
Ordinary people couldn’t.
Modified slightly to allow ‘people who know how to handle magical energy’ to use them, a Control Ring might be possible for 100 coins.
But either way, ordinary people still couldn’t use it.
However.
What Tay had created could be used by ordinary people, and it could command twelve Skeleton Soldiers.
This was a truly revolutionary item!
“That seems appropriate.”
“Good. Medium Skeleton Soldiers at 300 coins, Control Rings at 500 coins. Let’s go with that.”
“Understood. I’ll present those prices when the merchant arrives tomorrow.”
“Ah. But.”
Tay added.
“Make sure they’re sold separately, each one individually.”
“Of course.”
A Black Mage Is Way Too Strong As A Blacksmith
Author |
Automaton G
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Samyang C&C Co., Ltd.
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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